Theater Review: All-male ‘King Lear’ succeeds in capturing tale of madness, deceit

An all-star local cast is filling the Portland Ballet Studio Theater with lofty language and lowdown bloodletting in a new production of Shakespeare’s “King Lear.”

Inspired by the “original practice” concept of presenting the Bard’s work as it would have been performed in his time, producer Kevin O’Leary cast all men in a play known for a trio of substantial female roles. Despite a few giggles in the audience when the actors first strolled out in their long gowns, the power of the play mostly overcame this novelty for contemporary eyes and ears.

Charles Michael Howard takes the title role of the vain and failing king who chooses badly in favoring his daughters. Not knowing the full weight of his words, he declares, “Nothing will come of nothing” as he disinherits his most loyal offspring Cordelia. Howard employed a vocal range from solemn, regal tones to a breathless upper register that conveyed the depths of his discomfort as he is brought down by those he helped to move up in status. The actor met the challenge of moving his character through anguished stages of regret to the stormy brink of madness before experiencing just a moment of insight near the close, when he hopes that he and Cordelia can happily “take upon ‘s the mystery of things.”

Tony Reilly’s Gloucester parallels his friend’s familial fate, when an illegitimate son he belittles conspires against him. Reilly’s signature baritone resonated as his character’s initial lack of insight became a literal blindness at the hands of those driven by resentment and ambition. His scene in the arms of Lear succeeded on its own as genuinely moving but was perhaps made doubly so by the fact that the actors recently suffered personal losses. Both men lost their wives suddenly and suffered physical trauma of their own in late 2014 and early 2015.

Ian Carlsen played the gentle Cordelia but stood out more in the role of Gloucester’s wayward son, Edmund. Sneering through soliloquies in which he outlined his treachery and its motivation, Carlsen brought coiled energy to Edmund that eventually erupted in a full-out, well-choreographed sword fight with his half-brother Edgar, played by JP Guimont. Guimont also added an attention-grabbing edge to his role-within-a-role as madman Tom.

O’Leary’s Fool, wishing Lear would “make content of his fortune’s fit,” got most of the precious few laughs during the two-and-a-half hour play. O’Leary’s colorful costume, along with a generally goofy demeanor, belied an actor who obviously knows his character’s importance to the Shakespearean worldview.

Peter Brown and Rob Cameron minced about as the evil sisters Goneril and Regan. They separately shared romantic attachments with Edmund before moving in for the kill on anyone who stood in their way. Those latter moments might be where truly feminine touches were most missed amid the masculine clamor.

Rounding out the cast were Mark Rubin as Albany and Corey Gagne as Kent. Both brought nuance and definition to roles full of earnest declarations of concern for all the violence and cruelty they have witnessed.

Adding just a bit of song, Director Daniel Burson and his staff have staged this “King Lear” with minimal details of costuming, set design, lighting and sound. The scene changes were quick and efficient, keeping the focus on the sad tale of a man “bound upon a wheel of fire.”

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Theater Review: All-male ‘King Lear’ succeeds in capturing tale of madness, deceit

Theater review